PRESIDENTIAL candidate Vice President Leni Robredo’s spokesperson lawyer Barry Gutierrez denied on Wednesday, April 20, claims that they attempted to make her rivals quit the race and instead rally behind her.
In a television interview, Gutierrez said Robredo’s effort to talk to other candidates and get them under one roof happened prior to her declaration of candidacy.
“We’ve answered this several times before and to be very clear, there have been no active efforts on our end to actually talk to any candidate, much less ask them to withdraw. Certainly, money was never ever on the table,” he said.
“In fact, even if you look at their statements on the supposed talks, only one name was mentioned. Aside from that name, no other names have been mentioned, no other person has been identified as actually spearheading the supposed efforts, so we are actually surprised at the insistence of some of these candidates that it was VP Leni who was asking them to withdraw,” he added.
Gutierrez said Robredo had repeatedly made it clear in her past interviews that she was no longer pursuing efforts in such regard.
On Sunday, April 17, former Defense secretary Norberto Gonzales, Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, in a joint press conference, claimed having meetings with Robredo where she encouraged them to withdraw from the race and support her instead.
Gonzales said he was even offered by Robredo’s camp the reimbursement of her campaign funds.
Moreno said they were treated like “garbage” by Robredo.
Gonzales and Moreno urged Robredo to withdraw her candidacy.
Gonzales later apologized to Robredo for making such a call, while Moreno stood by his statement.
Lacson, for his part, said Gonzales and Moreno’s statement was out of script, noting that their agenda during the conference was to inform the public that they are not backing out and that they have other choices aside from Robredo and survey frontrunner former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (SunStar Philippines)